Mookah

Sunday mornings.......

2012-01-08T13:47:00.000+11:00

After a lovely but very unlikely sleep in this morning, I woke to a kind of balmy, but warm, overcast and drizzly morning. There went the plans to oil the deck. Perfect excuse to do something a little more fun.

I decided that the little man might quite like to make some lamingtons with me. I know, I can hear you now, "Are you crazy?" Given that I don't have lots of energy at the moment to play all our usual games together, I thought this might make a nice change.

Anyway, I am a little partial to a good lamington!

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday too.

Don't you love receiving new fabrics?

2011-12-24T10:01:00.000+11:00

Don't you love the arrival of new fabrics in the mail? The anticipation of what will be inside the parcel. Will they be just as lovely in the flesh as they looked when you purchased them? Intensity of colour? Softness of the cloth?

We received several parcels of fabric in the mail this last week, and I can't decide which is my favourite. I'm planning a new skirt for myself, but first I have to decide which fabric to use.

The morrocan prints are divine, but I can't go past the green leaf fabric. Perhaps it's that nature part of me coming out again?

There will be more skirts on the way for this stunning japanese fabric as well. All we need now is a little time to whip them up!

And last but not least, this lovely Leucadendron fabric in deep red and stone from Ink & Spindle. It will look right at home amongst our other homewares in the Mookah Studio.

Merry Christmas to all.

New colourways in stock!

2011-12-07T08:34:00.005+11:00

It's been a little while coming, but finally we have added a few new colourways to our Leaves and Moose design fabrics. Both designs have been reprinted onto a lovely soft natural cotton/linen blend basecloth.

We have added the top left and top right colours to our range, which are called Dove Grey and Ocean Mist respectively. This design is also still available in Rust, Chalk, Slate and Black.

Our popular Moose fabric has been reprinted in 2 new colourways. The first is Desert Red, which as the name implies, is a very earthy natural shade of red, and much more subdued than the original fire engine red of our previous print, which is now available in very limited stock.

The other new Moose colourway we have been dying to print since the design was completed is Dove Grey. A personal favourite of ours, which is lovely on it's own or will easily coordinate with other colours in the home.

Now we've just got to find a spare 5 minutes to get some cushions and beanbags made up and listed in our online shop!

The New Studio Space.....

2011-11-07T20:46:00.001+11:00

Yesterday I promised to share some more snaps with you, but this time they are a little more about our studio space. The place we now call 'home'. The place we go to each day to design, create, print, and make.

This one was actually taken a few weeks ago while we were doing the big move, but it perfectly reflects the support we had from the family. Mum, Cooper and I having a morning tea break in the sun.

Do you like the piece of Marrimeko fabric hanging on the side? It's drying after a little personal 'creative input' before it gets stretched over a frame for a customer to hang on their wall.

It is VERY bright in our new studio space, as you can tell here by my screwed up face as I prepare to do a little screen printing.

We don't do this every day, but last Saturday was a stunner of a day, so we sat outside to soak up some sunshine while we polished off the night before's leftover pizza.

Our working studio area is now about 3-4 times more than we had before. Just perfect I say.

We love our new home. If you're in the area, drop by and say hi.

The New Shop Space......

2011-11-06T17:59:00.000+11:00

I know, I know. Everyone's been asking for some pictures of the new shop and studio, but things have been just a little hectic around here of late. They aren't the best, but here is a few snaps of our new shop space.

Who would have ever thought we'd have a big Mookah sign, marking our territory?

Nicole (colli) doing a quick pose for me on our 'Lady in Red' benchseat.

A selection of hand printed scarves from Australian textile designer, Megan Jackson.

Some of the usual mookah goodies, including kids beanbags and funky ladies skirts.

These practcal little satchels and folio's look and feel like a beautiful soft woollen felt, but in actual fact they are made from 100% plastic bottles. What a great idea, and also make a great gift idea.

We've also introduced some lovely little journals and notebooks made from 100% recycled paper by Melbourne label 'Ask Alice'. How cute are they?

One of these little clocks has already made it's way to a space on my kitchen wall. Shhh, don't tell Nicole though!

And more of the usual Mookah products you would expect to see in our new studio space.

Finally our customers can come direct to us to view our full range of textiles and products, discuss ideas, get quotes, try clothing on, purchase gifts and see us at work out the back in the studio. Who would have thought that we would ever have our own little shop space?

Tomorrow I will share with you some more pics of our working studio space out the back. I promise.

Our next big event......

2011-10-25T07:52:00.000+11:00

Things have been rather hectic around here of late, and it seems like forever ago that

we had a big market or event in Melbourne. I know there is a few of you out there that are waiting for us to be back in the big smoke to come and try some skirts on, so here it is.

We will be once again displaying our wares at Magnolia Square at St Kilda Town Hall from Friday the 11th to Sunday the 13th of November. Click here for the full details.

Before all that excitement though, we've got our new shop to open this coming Friday (fingers crossed) followed by our lovely local Inverloch market this Saturday, and Foster market on Sunday. Our sleepy little coastal town is about to be taken over again for the summer.....

The Move

2011-10-16T19:20:00.000+11:00

Thought I'd share a few snaps taken over the last week of the packing, dismantling, moving......you get the drift. There was lots of cleaning and painting to be done at the new premises before we even thought about moving in. Just as well I'm a master painter!

Dad's been busy pulling out old dirty shelving and installing new ones for us, while trying to build a few new props and a counter for our new shop. You probably already worked out the blue shelving was the old stuff and the new ones are red.....

Batboy seems very much at home in the new studio with lots of space inside and out to ride his bike around, and his made a new friend in 'Jack', a little puppy next door at the Vintage Prints studio.

It's been a very hectic week and an emotional one after receiving some bad news, but we're excited about our new space and can't wait to get ourselves sorted. More updates soon.

New Mookah Headquarters

2011-10-08T19:12:00.001+11:00

I think I might have already mentioned that Mookah was looking for a new studio space, with Nicole and Dazman deciding to put their house on the market, and therefore our little studio space disappearing. The timing has probably worked out really well, because we were rapidly outgrowing our space, and felt the need to have a space where our customers could come direct to us to view our wares and purchase goodies.

We're feeling really excited and grown up about signing a lease on Thursday for this place.......

It's right where we wanted to be located and the perfect size, not too big, and not too small. It doesn't look much yet, but you just watch this space!

How cool is this letter box? The number 32 has a bit of a hitsory in our family, so it's just another sign. You know how things just 'feel right' sometimes? I'm thinking I might have to give the letterbox some love though, but keep the vintage look and feel.

This is a view of the workshop area in the back, looking towards the front of the building which will be a display room/shop area. The building was used by a shed company before, so it's going to need a bit of......well, lets say.......'prettying up'.

I will be sharing the progress with you over the next few weeks on the new Mookah Studio, and look forward to you dropping in when we finally open the doors. Stay tuned folks!

My Creative Space....

2011-09-29T13:51:00.000+10:00

It's a little sad that it often takes a decision to sell a property before you make the time and effort to clean up, repair, tidy, paint or renovate an area of your house or property. Out the back window of our studio we used to look out onto a small courtyard area that was very plain and boring and not very inviting. After just a little hard yakka from us, look at what we can see now......

We're thinking about all the lovely morning and afternoon tea's we could have had out here in the lovely sunshine, listening to the birds, while we took a break from the whir of our machines.

Feeling a little bright and spotty? We made this dotto fabric up into a floor cushion for the first time this morning, and it looked so good, we had to take a pic to share with you! This little baby will be coming on a road trip with me (yes another road trip) to Canberra tomorrow for Handmade Canberra. Shhh.....I haven't told her what time we have to leave yet.

For more Creative Spaces', head over here.

Meandering in Meeniyan

2011-09-27T18:27:00.000+10:00

The latest stockist of our Mookah products is The Duck Hutt in Meeniyan, with it's owner Kellie only opening it's doors several months ago. We were very excited to be stocking a local homewares and giftwares shop in our area with our product, but also the fact that Kellie is an old friend of ours from High School.

Not a great photo, but a few of our cushions and a floor cushion feature on this centre display.

Can I just say that I'm glad I'm not the one that had to make that beautiful rosette cushion! But oh so lovely.

One of the things I love about Kellie's shop is how she almost creates separate rooms within the shop, by using blocks of colours within the space. I'm not particularly a fan of orange, but how divine does this green and tangerine look together?

I think this red photo is my favourite. Do you think maybe it's becasue it's red? I am just a little partial to red.

Tea anyone? What a cute tea cosy. If you're in South Gippsland or on your way to Wilson's Promontory, a stop off at The Duck Hutt in Meeniyan is a must. Meeniyan is becoming a real little village with a few lovely shops, cafes and a fantastic little Jewellers next door. Tell Kellie the Mookah chicks sent you!

The Duck Hutt

134 Whitelaw St

Meeniyan 3956

03 56640100

My Creative Space.....

2011-09-22T21:07:00.000+10:00

To be absolutely honest, there wasn't much work going on in our creative space today, but we did receive a few deliveries. Thought I'd share some pics of some of our new wooden buttons.

These ones above are our favrourites, but we wish they were just a little larger in diameter.

The radiating design on these ones was just too tempting to pass up.

The line markings on these ones give me the perception of being not quite perfect, even though they are designed that way. I like the fact that maybe they don't look too 'perfect'.

And these ones? They remind me of pieces of chocolate or biscuits.....good enough to eat!

Production may have been lacking a little today, but there was plenty of scheming and planning for a new little project of ours. The details? Well, you'll have to wait and see.

For more creative spaces, head over here.

New fabric in our 'Creative Space'

2011-09-15T20:05:00.002+10:00

To kick off the week on Monday we received a large delivery by courier, which resulted in a gasp from both Nicole and I, as we saw a delivery van approaching through the gum trees, turn in, and roll on down the driveway toward our studio doors. Yep, we knew what it was going to be.

Our latest fabric design called 'inspiration'. This design has been a work in progress for nearly 12 months now. You might be thinking you've seen it in our range before, but that's because we were doing small placement prints with it and incorporating it into some of our skirt designs, but now we have printed it onto yardage.

Orders, orders, orders this week have kept us from working with our new fabric. That is, until today when we unrolled the fabric on the bench. What do you think? Likey likey?

The design has been printed onto a lovely hemp basecloth, and shown is the black print on stone, and coffee print on the berry. We also have available dove grey on natural. Fabrics and products will be available in our online shop in the next few days.

For more creative spaces head over here.

Nature and its inspiration.....

2011-09-11T19:31:00.001+10:00

Lately there's been lots of work going on in the outdoors around here, preparing a property for sale. You know what I'm talking about. Mowing, weed spraying, whipper snippering, pruning, mulching and everything inbetween. While we've been doing this, we've noticed many beautiful colours and textures which are inspiring our current colour pallete.

After the cold, dark, dreariness of winter, it's amazing how those first few bursts of colour in the garden pop out and capture your attention.

Spring. Definately my favourite season of the year.

My Creative Space.......

2011-09-08T17:52:00.001+10:00

What creative stuff is goin' on in the Mookah studio I hear you ask. Well, to be honest, an awful lot of this right now.

It's been a rather 'dotty' kind of week. Lots of spots and dots on our skirts, including a panel of Mookah designed and hand printed 'Inspiration' fabric. Thanks, to you know who you are, for the donated spotty wotty fabric!

Keep an eye on the mookah shop in the next couple of days, as our 'Inspiration' fabric will be available in yardage in a couple of new colourways. Again, colours inspired by what we have around us!

There is lots more creative space going on here.

A lovely new shop....called Felix!

2011-09-07T19:15:00.001+10:00

Last weekend we had our first Red Hill market for the season. Oh, it was so lovely to be back at a nice relaxed outdoor market and have a lovely warm (albeit windy) day to kick start the season. It was a slow start, but by mid morning the regulars had returned to visit their favourite stallholders, pick up some fresh produce and peruse some handmade goodness.

We had a visit from Max, who has just opened a new shop in Dromana called 'Felix', and thought that our products might make a lovely addition to his shop. He sold his shop so well that we dropped by right after the market to check it out.

Felix

unique. antique. boutique

And what an apt description that is. A must see for anyone passing through, with an ecclectic mix of new and old, including homewares, books, jewellry and collectibles. Oh. And those 3 mustard yellow books you see on the counter......well they're Nicole's latest purchase, to co-ordinate with her mustard yellow wall in her house!

Sorry about the quality of the photos, they were taken on my crappy mobile phone. Don't worry, only 8 weeks 'til the iphone upgrade, and counting! But I digress. This is a lovely store worth a look on the Mornington Peninsula next time you're in the area.

Better late than never.....

2011-08-29T14:31:00.001+10:00

Remember I told you about a little competition we were running at Magnolia Square at Ivanhoe last week? Anyway, the gist of the story is that we offered for anyone who vistied us at the event to go on our mailing list and enter a draw to win a throw cushion of their choice from our online shop.

We received an overwhelming number of entries (amazing what we'll all do to try and win something) and last week we used a random selection technique to choose a winner. That's right, Nicole closed her eyes with pen in hand, and the name that the pen landed on was the winner. Pretty high tech stuff huh?

The name that was chosen using the high tech random selection technique was........Simone from Macleod! I have already notified Simone of her win, and she has chosen this Leaves throw cushion in rust which I have popped off in the post to her today. This will coordinate perfectly with the floor cushion Simone purchased from us at the event.

. Thanks to all who visited us at the event and helped to make it the success that it was.

Ivanhoe here we come!

2011-08-16T20:53:00.000+10:00

This weekend Magnolia Square has a brand new pop up event at The Centre in Ivanhoe, and Mookah will be there with bells on. Well, maybe not bells, but we'll be there and we're excited!

There will be over 50 fabulous retailers taking part, offering something for everyone. Drop in, say hello, and put your name on our mailing list and you will go in the draw to win one of our very own Mookah designed cushions.

Behind the scenes at Mookah Headquarters

2011-08-11T19:17:00.002+10:00

After the last few wet gloomy days we were itching to get outside, and decided to take advantage of today's brighter conditions to get outside our creative space and snap a few product pics so that we could do some new product listings in our online shop. Here is a sample pic to give you the general idea, and if you haven't been introduced before, this is our model, Barbara.

But have you ever wondered if we toil away in our studio each day dressed in our own Mookah brand skirts and garb? Well, I can assure you, the answer is most definately NO. Here's a couple of behind the scenes pics, showing us in our compulsory country gumbies.

No we don't have sheep in our yard, that's Nicole's dog, Monty, who is a spoodle.

If you're admiring my gumbies and are wondering what brand they are, they're Skellerups. The most comfy brand on the market in my opinion, with a very Mookahish red band around the top. Nicole's are Bogs......the trendy girly gumboot.

Do you think Nicole (a) doesn't realise that her buttons don't line up, or (b) simply doesn't care? Given it's hot pink to start with, I'm leaning towards (b) simply doesn't care.

We went inside to grab a few more garments and when we came out Barbara had disappeared. Naughty Barbara, she'd gone to play on Cooper's playground while he was off at daycare.

For more creative stuff, head over here.

And the winner is......

2011-08-02T21:45:00.001+10:00

And the winner is........Mookah! A couple of weeks ago I left a comment over at the lovely Wendy June's blog, where one of the people who left a comment would win a range of products from her quirky collection. The name of the winner was drawn randomnly and the winner was......yep, Mookah.

We won about $100 worth of product, including a monster jot box, 6 cards and 6 magnets.

If you're not familiar with the work of wendy june, she is an artist, illustrator & designer in Melbourne, who creates a range of cards, toys, magnets, drawings and stationery using her quirky illustrations. Wendy is also a market buddy for us at Shirt & Skirt Market at Abbotsford Convent each month.

If you'd like some wendy june goodness in your life, you can head over here to get yourself some, or you could drop in and see her in person at a Melbourne market. See her website for details.

thanks wendy june!

What are you doing this Sunday?

2011-07-27T09:33:00.000+10:00

This is where the Mookah chicks will be hanging out this Sunday. If you're looking for something to do, drop in and say g'day.

New Mookah Stockist

2011-07-13T19:08:00.000+10:00

While we were in warm sunny QLD for the Finders Keepers market, we had the pleasure of meeting Amanda and Theresa, owners of the new Urban Dweller store in Samford. The store is situated in the picturesque suburb of Samford, just a 30 minute drive north-west of Brisbane city, and just around the corner from where we were staying with friends for the event!

Urban Dweller stocks a range of quality homewares, gifts and clothing, with an emphasis on Australian, handmade goods. Sounds like a perfect fit for the Mookah product range don't you think?

We dropped into the shop the day after the market to check out their space and to deliver some Mookah goods, and ended up spending hours in Samford. There is an absolutely fantastic park in Samford which kept the kids entertained for hours, followed by a long lunch in the local pub. We were looking forward to eating at The Flying Nun Cafe next to Urban Dweller, but unfortunately they were closed. Guess we'll have to go back next time then?

If you're in the Samford area, make sure you drop in to Urban Dweller and say g'day to Amanda and Theresa.

Urban Dweller

16 Station Street

Samford QLD 4520

Warm sunshiney days.....

2011-07-12T15:26:00.000+10:00

After our couple of days at Finders Keepers market in Brisbane we headed down the coast to Coolangatta for 6 days for a well deserved mini break, to enjoy the warmth and sunshine. Every day was warm and sunny with clear blue skies and not a breath of wind.......

We've been going up to this family apartment basically every year since we were little girls, and I will never tire of this view of Kirra beach, looking across to Surfers Paradise. Pity we had to come home huh?

Finders Keepers Brisbane

2011-07-05T19:52:00.000+10:00

Late last week we made the big road trip up the Newell Hwy with a car loaded to the hilt with stock and our shelving on the roofracks in anticipation of a rockin' Finders Keepers market in Brisvegas. Woohoo! You know how us chicks love our road trips!

The event was held at The Old Museum which was a beautiful old brick buiding with lots of character and atmosphere. The live music, lots of people, beautiful food and lots of talented artisans all made it one great event. There was a few other Melbourne folk exhibiting their wares, including Crayon Chick, Rabbit & Duck, and The Wolf & I. Thanks ladies for making it such a fun time, and Brisbanites for making us so welcome.

For us Melbourne folk it was like heaven on a stick particpating in an event with clear blue skies, sunshine and warm balmy 21 degree days. A huge thanks to Lucia, John and the boys for putting us up for a few nights and now we've headed to the coast for a mini break in Coolangatta, stocking up on our fill of warmth and sunshine. Ahhhh.....holidays.....yeah I remember what they are now.....

Bendigo Square Market

2011-06-20T21:20:00.000+10:00

Last Saturday was Bendigo Square Market, and Mookah made the trip up the Calder Hwy to the 'Go' for the very first time. I was warned it would be cold, but brrrr.......apparently I underestimated just how cold, cold could be.

The market is held at the Bendigo Town Hall and check out how beautiful the inside of this building is. It has been renovated in recent years and apparently took several years to complete the work. A stunning location to spend a day amongst some super creative people, I only wish I'd remembered my scarf and my thermals! Thanks Frank for lending me yours. Scarf that is. Not your thermals......

Thanks also to Mookah Mum for being my navigator and off-sider for the day. You're the bestest! One of the highlights of my day was catching up with an old school friend that I haven't seen for about 16 years. Thanks Sooze for dropping by, it was fantastic to see you and you haven't changed a bit!

Maybe Mookah will be back in Bendigo soon?

Screenprinting.......

2011-06-16T09:40:00.000+10:00

What's going on in our Creative Space this week? Sewing, cutting, sewing, marking, more sewing and oh, oh, our new screens arrived! So screenprinting it is. You know how it is, you don't have a plan but you've got a new screen/design, so you've just got to print.

A new screen deserves a new colour don't you think? So of course it had to be a shade of red. Or earthy red/brown to be exact.

How sexy is that word screen?

The new colour on a cotton/linen basecloth......

And lets not forget our poppies design.......

Our own designs, screens, ink, fabric, mess, creativity - I love it!

For more creative space this week, head over here.

Chicks Road Trip to Canberra!

2011-06-13T19:54:00.000+10:00

For those of you who don't already know, Nicole and I love a good road trip and we have been on many together for Mookah in the last couple of years, and lots more for holidays in the years prior to that. On Friday morning we left at sunrise in the Subaru with the trailer hitched on the back, knowing that we were headed to Canberra for Handmade Canberra and that we had decided to head along the coast to Cann River and then turn off to head up the Monaro Highway to Canberra, rather than go through Melbourne and head up the Hume Hwy. Simple huh?

Something else you may also know or not know about us, is that we are both control freaks. This means that we would normally be well organised, have a schedule of time for departure, planned stops for fuel, food and toilet breaks, a marked map of the trip and an ETA. Maybe we're just getting older, I'm not sure. But neither of us had never been to Canberra, had never been up the Monaro Highway, and on a friends recommendation that it was much better for us to head up the Monaro rather than the Hume, we just thought, okay, let's do that, without much consideration, research or planning. The alarm bells didn't even ring. All was well until we were at about Sale when we heard on the radio that East Gippsland had had their heaviest rainfall in like 20 years and that there was floods and land slips resulting in closed lanes, etc. Uh-oh.

The closer we got to Cann River, we saw more and more of the above, and the trip got slower and slower. Below is a pic of the Cann River at full force.

Many of the roads in Cann River itself were flooded and we got wet feet just trying to make our way for a toilet stop. Then it was a turn to the north to head up the Monaro Highway. Immediately the road became a little windey and a steady climb, making the Suby work hard to pull the trailer. Our friend never mentioned this, she said the road was good!

There was plenty of land slips blocking lanes and delays as workers assessed the damage. We kept climbing and climbing and the temperature kept dropping. At this point we decided to check the Melways, and OH MY GOD, the road went over the great dividing range, and over the Snowy Mountain Plains. No one told us that! The temperature got as low as 2 degrees before it started to climb again after the slow descent back down to normal heights in the approach to Canberra. Check out these 2 wombats that decided to cross the road in front of me in the middle of the day. What's with that?

I had looked at a map of canberra online a couple of days prior and noticed that the Monaro Highway led to Northbourne Avenue which went through the centre of Canberra and our motel was just off that on the north side. Looked easy enough......until we got real close and Nicole kept saying "Where do we go", and "What roads are we looking for" and I kept saying, "err, don't know, just keep heading to city centre" and hoping to hell that when we got there, or got close we would see Northbourne Avenue and all would be well. I thought she was going to throw a tanty. I thought she was going to hit me. I thought she was going to crack it and stop the car and demand me to drive, and then there it was Northbourne Avenue, and yep it went through the centre to the north of the city and I'll be damned there was the road our motel was on.

After checking into our motel we made a quick dash into the city to check out the Handmade Shop before it closed, and took a quick walk down to the Convention Centre to check out where we had to go the next day.

Apologies for lack of photos, we didn't have time and before we knew it, it was time to load up the car and head off again. Note Nicole wore her skirt that we blogged about last week. It was a hit with customers and we sold all that we took with us. You know what we'll be doing this week don't you?

The location was fantastic, the organisers were friendly, fun and helpful, we met some blogger friends such as Posie Patchwork, the day was busy and we had a ball. Thanks Canberarians (is that a word?) for supporting Mookah and handmade goodness in general. Thanks also to Stacey from Koolaman Designs for tips on where to stay, where to eat and where to play.

The Skirt

2011-06-04T17:31:00.000+10:00

Today we found a spare half an hour to finish off that little project that you saw previewed on the blog yesterday. Here it is!

The latest skirt design, using some of our own 'Rust' leaves fabric.

Nothing like a few buttons to add a spot of detail, and some stretch denim for comfort.

We are wondering whether the 2 panels on the front should be reversed, so that the Rust Leaves fabric is the smaller panel. What do you think?

Either way, this skirt will be available in 2 colourways at Canberra Handmade next weekend. Hope to see you there (unless our digits have frozen and fallen off).

Sneaky peaky.....

2011-06-03T15:47:00.000+10:00

Okay. So technically I'm a day late to play with the rest of the gang in Our Creative Space, but I'm breaking the rules and playing anyway! Yeah I know, what a rebel huh? Story of my life really.

I just wanted to share a few sneaky peak pics of one of the current little projects that are going on in the Mookah studio.

Its just not quite finished........

.......otherwise I'd show you the finished product as well!

Over and out from Mookahland.

Some new designs......

2011-05-27T14:36:00.001+10:00

Just thought I'd share a picture of a few new designs with you.

Our 'words' cushion in a new colourway, black and green.

Our 'birds' design cushion cover in black and white.

Our new 'tree' cushion in green.

New large 65cm x 65cm wool blend cushion in green.

This little selection is heading to a new eco home in Inverloch this afternoon.

My Creative Space....

2011-05-26T17:42:00.000+10:00

There was quite a bit of screen printing going on around here today....

There was a bit of everything. Cushion pieces, pockets and lots of panels for our denim skirts.

This one is my current favourite, the green tree, which you may have already seen on our skirts, but today it was making its way onto a cushion for a special order. But more of that another day....

For more creative stuff head over here.

Another girlie road trip?

2011-05-14T19:05:00.000+10:00

I sense another girls road trip coming up......

Yep, that's right. Mookah is going to be at Finders Keepers in Brisbane on the weekend of the 2nd & 3rd July! Yehaah, as we slap hands, scream and shout, and run around saying "We're going to Brisbane, we're going to Brisbane" in unison like childish school girls.

Enough frivolity. There are serious questions to be answered.

1. Do we fly or drive?

2. Do we both go or just one of us fly & the other drive? Ooooh, tough one for the loser....

3. Do we tack a few days on for a little holiday in the warmth & sunshine? Mmm....no brainer!

4. Do we take our bathers or will it be too cold for swimming?

5. If we stay on, does Daz & Coop come too?

Mmmmm......life is full of tough questions. Either way, we'll see you there Brisbanites!

Leaves in autumnal tones.....

2011-05-14T09:11:00.000+10:00

For any of you who know us it will come as no suprise at all. In fact, you may have been wondering how long it would take us. We now have our 'Leaves' fabric design available in a dark red.

And what a perfect time to be introducing a colour that refelects the season. It is a very autumnal colour, don't you think?

Perfect for adding a little warmth to those cold, grey days.

Isn't the colour on this wall amazing? It is a derelict old building, and since we saw it recently we haven't stopped thinking of the possibilities we could do with it if we were to own it.......

There's nothing like the warmth of a few sunny rays on your back while sitting and enjoying the beauty of autumn.

Mothers Day

2011-05-05T21:42:00.000+10:00

It's Thursday. The Thursday before Mother's Day. That means only 2 more shopping days before the big day. Have you bought your Mother's Day present for your Mum yet?

Well, Melody has. She currently resides in Abu Dubai but today us Mookah chicks personally delivered her Mother's day gift to her Mum. I was a little excited to be doing the personal delivery as I haven't seen Carol in years......but she wasn't home!

We left the package on the doorstep and through modern technology zinging back and forth over the globe we have heard that yes Carol did recive her gift this afternoon, and yes, she loves it! It wouldn't make a very good blog post if she didn't though, now would it?

Now I know what you're thinking. She opened it and it isn't even Mother's Day yet, right? Well I'm here to tell you that the clause about 'daughters living internationally for extended periods' comes into play here, and that Carol had every right to open her gift early.

Happy Mothers Day for Sunday to all you mothers out there.

Autumn

2011-05-04T15:41:00.003+10:00

acorn brown beautiful bonfire mushrooms crisp foliage

harvest leaves orange scenic windy crispy leaf rake melancholy

ripe golden cloud fall crisp crunchy red

naked cold bareness.....

Maybe it's time to let those hairy legs grow for a few months........brrrrrrr

Country markets......

2011-04-26T17:15:00.000+10:00

While most of our time is spent travelling up and down the highway to do markets in the big smoke (Melbourne), it's always nice to do a local market. Apart from the obvious difference that we don't have to do all that travel, country markets are just so laid back, and cruisey. Sunday was our last market at Foster for the season, and I took a few pics to share with you.

If there is any chance of drizzle or showers in the forcast, you can pretty much guarantee that you're going to get a little wet at Foster. The dark clouds seem to just hover around those hills. The sky and the wet pavement tell the story really, doesn't it?

Mookah Zip Purses

This little girl was having a ball chasing the bubbles and trying to jump on them. As a big kid myself I was dying to join in the fun.

Carol and Mark from Itchybird made the big trek down from Mornington to sell their jewellery and cards.

What country market is complete without all the yummy home made jams and spreads?

Some georgous softies from Naomi of Thula Thula. Find her at Mathilda's market real soon.

It wasn't me that took that picture of the hen house, it was that other Mookah chick that lives on 4 acres and would really like her own little hen house and fresh eggs. Or maybe she really just wants somewhere to escape to from time to time?

We all spent the day dodging those little bubbles......I'm guessing someone had a really good day selling bubble guns. Thanks to all those that braved the elements and came out to farewell the Foster market for another season with a big bang!

Cutting, sewing, printing......

2011-04-25T18:51:00.000+10:00

We had a weekend of busy markets here where we braved the cold at Inverloch on Saturday and the rain at Foster on Sunday, but the big easter crowds also braved the elements to browse through the locally made wares.

So much for a long weekend. There is no time for rest and relaxation here, every spare minute is being spent cutting, sewing and screen printing in preparation for the first Magnolia Square at Malvern Town Hall for this year, to be held this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

If you're in Melbourne or not too far away, drop in and say hello and browse through the quality, independant labels on show. The next show in Malvern isn't until December!

Coastal Crafters Workshop

2011-04-19T18:10:00.000+10:00

Today was the 2nd ever Coastal Crafters Workshop, held here in the Mookah studio. It is a small group of like minded friends meeting up to chat, eat, laugh and maybe do a craft project or two, every couple of months. Today's project was set by Carol, who decided she wanted to have a go at needle felting.

To be honest I had no idea what she was talking about until she arrived with all the goodies in individual bags for each of us and the pretty pictures of felt mushrooms. Then I was intrigued.

All I can say is if you are a little tense, a little stressed or have a build up of anger, then needle felting is for you! You get to poke this long barbed needle really fast in and out of the felt and while you're doing it, why not use it as a release of your emotions?

Are these the cutest little mushrooms you've ever seen? We did go on to also make some little brooches before embarking on a special little something to go on a t-shirt for Mr Itchy.

Do you think he'll like it? Do you think he'll wear it?

Oh yeah, there was a little screen printing thrown in there too, just to mix things up a bit. Another fun and successful workshop.

New Mookah Stockist......

2011-04-09T18:06:00.002+10:00

It's always lovely when you get inquiries from beautiful stores to stock your product range in their shop, and while I've not actually been to this one yet, I'm dying to go now. It looks absolutely amazing. Where is it you ask?

Saltmarsh...Artful Living

49 MacDonald Street
Warrnambool VIC 3280

Doesn't it look lovely? We first met Tina at Finders Keepers in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. Now we're wondering when we can do a road trip to Warnambool.....

Maybe to help justify our trip, we could drop in on our good friend Jo on the way?

It just makes you realise, there are so many new and exciting things to discover out there in the great outdoors isn't there? Time to get out there and discover, explore and enjoy!

My Creative Space......'Footstool Makeover'

2011-03-24T12:43:00.000+11:00

Apart from all the chaos here today associated with last minute preparations for Finders Keepers on the weekend, we've squeezed in a few minutes to do a makeover of a footstool that we bought a few weeks ago at a garage sale up the road for $2.

Before Photo

She has great character don't you think? She just looks a little tired and grubby and needs a little bit of loving. I started, with the aid of my little helper, by stripping back her covers and removing all the old rusty staples. I loved the brightly coloured threads I found underneath.

Makeover Process

Next I gave her legs a light rub with some steel wool to get them nice and smooth and to remove a few little rub marks she had accumulated. With a light rub of furniture oil here legs were gleaming. We chose our brand new 'Leaves' fabric in slate to recover her with, using the old cover as a pattern, and stretched and stapled the fabric on the base.

After Photo

And voila! With less than an hours worth of effort, we turned our $2 footstool into this modernised little beauty. What do you think?

For more creative spaces, head over here to check them out.

My Creative Space....

2011-03-17T21:00:00.002+11:00

In My Creative Space today (or technically it's 'ours') we were screen printing another one of our new designs, and one that we have been thinking about and working on for over a year now.

The design is called 'Inspiration', and is a mish mash of words that describe what Mookah is about, our environment, what inspires us.

Shown here is the design in black and eggplant.

The design has a slightly organic feel to it. You know, has a bit of character and not to precise!

The only thing to work out now, is what colour to print next. For the home of My Creative Space, head over here.

Cushion Love

2011-03-16T20:12:00.000+11:00

Come on. Everyone loves a good cushion don't they?

This is just a peek of some of the new designs that we have been screenprinting ourselves here at Mookah Headquarters.

All printed with water based inks on a cotton/linen blend basecloth.

With a nice squishy feather and foam cushion insert that keeps on bouncing back you can't go wrong.

My Creative Space.....'Hot off the Press!'

2011-03-10T19:20:00.001+11:00

What's happening in my creative space I hear you ask. Well thanks for asking, because hot off the press is our brand new fabric design that arrived back from the printers this afternoon! It is simply called 'Leaves', and below is the sample colour swatches we requested.

The design is printed on an unbleached cotton/linen blend basecloth. Now the challenging task of narrowing our colour choice down to two for yardage printing.....

On this ocassion we decided to run with a couple of simple, neutral colours......and not a dot of red to be seen anywhere! Yet.

Hope someone else loves it as much as we do. You will be able to purchase floor cushions, throw cushions, and fat quarters in this design from our online shop, and our etsy shop very, very soon.

Counting Down......

2011-03-08T15:12:00.000+11:00

We are patiently counting down here at Mookah Headquarters for this......

....the 2nd ever Finders Keepers event in Melbourne. It's bound to be bigger and better than the first. Check out all the aussie talent that will be participating here. Hope to see you there!

Photoshop oh how I love you sometimes....

2011-02-28T13:20:00.000+11:00

Photoshop and Mookah have had a rather strained relationship in the past, but today.......

......we managed to sort out some of our differences! Photoshop did today not only what we asked it to, but more importantly, did what we wanted it to as well.

Play time!

2011-02-21T20:28:00.000+11:00

Ever since Mookah was born we have dreamt of learning how to screen print our own designs, but it is something that has been put on the back burner until we've had the time and a few spare dollars to throw at it. I don't want you to think that we're kicking back here by the beach sipping marguerita's, but somehow over the last few weeks we've found some 'play time' to try and teach oursleves how to expose screens and screen print on fabric.

After doing hours of research on the internet and watching those 'how to' videos on You Tube, we enlisted the help of one of our friends (lets call her Carol) to help us get started for a day. A day should be plenty you'd think. How hard can it be? It's not rocket science after all.....

We had some designs, we had a screen, we had emulsion, paint, squeegee, lights and a dark room for exposing artwork, not to mention bucket loads of enthusiasm, so what could go wrong? EVERYTHING! We didn't even get to do any screen printing that very first day because we couldn't even get a screen exposed correctly!

Over the last week though we've been playing, reading, experimenting and asking lots of questions from professionals, and finally things are starting to 'click'. Yeehah! We've actually managed to print a few basic designs which you can see below.

Love these photos of the prints hanging on the line......they make me feel proud, even though they aren't perfect. It reminds me that we all have to start somewhere with the learning of a new skill.

As usual, we expect to be able to do everything really well right form the start, and it's frustrating when you can't, but hey, good things come to those who wait right?

I'll update you next week on our progress. There has been some very exciting developments at Mookah headquarters today. Special thanks to Carol for her help and guidance over the last couple of weeks.

Rainbow of colour......

2011-02-16T18:34:00.000+11:00

What do you have for lunch in summer when you have tomatoes and basil coming out your ears?

Why bruschetta off course! This one is made from several different varieties of home grown tomatoes which create this magnificent rainbow of colours on the plate. I love mixing different types of tomatoes to give that variation on colours, texture and flavours.

Even this little man thought it was the bomb. Gotta love summer foods.

House bound activities......

2011-01-30T20:51:00.000+11:00

What to do on a stinker of a day? You know the type. It's too hot to be doing anything outside, so you lock yourself inside with the air conditioning on, but what to do?

Well before it got too hot this morning, I headed down to the local for a swim. It was stunning, and made me feel like I was on holidays.

This arvo I was planning to sit and watch the cricket and the tennis, 'til I realised that the tennis was going to be on tonight instead, and then to top it off, the first innings of the cricket wasn't being shown on tv! What is the world coming to I ask you?

So I did a spot of baking instead. Although my date scones don't meet the cwa guidelines, they still tasted pretty good! Tea anyone?

Linocut Love......

2011-01-25T18:53:00.000+11:00

Today at Mookah Headquarters we decided to play with something just a little different.....some linocut fabric printing.

The linocut we are playing with is the one used to create our business logo, business cards etc.

We were printing onto some organic cotton/hemp fabric panels to be used in a new little project.

I love how organic and individual these little prints are.

Next to dry, heat set, and get on with the project in question! We're already thinking about the next linocut design and can't wait to get the tools out.

A very special gift.....

2011-01-11T19:46:00.001+11:00

At Christmas last year (yes - last year!) our family decided to do a bit of kris kringle thing rather than all buying gifts for everyone, which gets very expensive. I received a very special present that ticked all the boxes.

Handmade - tick
Meaningful - tick
Beautiful - tick
Last forever - tick
Sentimental - tick
Creative - tick
Simple - tick

A few months ago now, I spent some time trying to teach Cooper (my 3 year old nephew) how to draw some basic things on the whiteboard, with our focus being on simple trees. This is one of the drawings that Cooper and I did together, that I loved. Nicole took a photo of it for us to look back on in future years.

What I didn't know at the time was that she passed it on to a friend of ours, Michelle, otherwise known as Crayonchick. Now this is one seriously talented lady who has a business called 'Kids with Crayons', which specialises in transforming children's artwork into beautiful keepsakes, so that you can cherish the works of little people for years to come.

This is the end result, and what I received for xmas.

Isn't it adorable? Michelle has even used my favourite colours and a touch of fabric from one of my favourite fabric designers, Ink & Spindle. What a great momento this is going to be for me that I'm sure I will have until I grow old.

Special thanks to Cooper for being a great nephew (most of the time), my fantastic sister Nicole for the great gift idea, and to Michelle for being such a talented lady!

The New Deck......

2011-01-05T18:48:00.000+11:00

It's been rather quiet here on the blogging front in case you hadn't noticed. First of all there was all kinds of Mookah craziness going on with last minute pre-xmas orders, then it was the whole Santa coming thing, and then it was just us Mookah chicks taking a few days out for oursleves over the Xmas and New Year period.

So what did we do with our 'me' time after stuffing ourselves silly on Xmas day? Go away with the family for a few days? Lay on the beach and retire to the waves when things got a little warm? Escape to the family apartment at Coolangatta? Sleep in 'til late and get up to pancakes for brekky?

Not likely. In case you hadn't already heard, I got myself a brand new deck for xmas. And not just any old deck, this is a 'big begucken party deck'! It is even larger than I first thought, but damn I love it. The little planter boxes filled with herbs were given to me by my big sis and her family for my birthday a few weeks ago. How appropriate don't you think? I love wandering onto the deck to pick a few fresh herbs to cook with dinner.

So I still haven't told you what I've been up to have I? Not what you think I'm sure. No I haven't been sipping margurita's on the deck (yet), I've been busy oiling my brand new deck for days on end. Who would of thought it would take so long to put 2 coats all over this magnificent specimen?

Well worth the effort though. I will be drinking fine wine and eating succulent cheeses on this deck for years to come. In fact, I think I might retire to the deck for a vino now....

Fine and Sunny......

2010-12-06T19:26:00.001+11:00

If you live in Mildura or have passed through in the last couple of months, you may have noticed a brand new shop that has opened in town, called 'Fine and Sunny'. How apt is that name for Mildura? The shop is owned by another sister team (like us), being Annie and Shell, and they have been planning towards opening their own shop for about 18 months.

The concept was to fill a gap, as the ladies believed that Mildura was missing the kind of shop that they liked, which is one stocking lots of Australian designers and makers - something different and unique, and somewhere that you can go to buy a present for your best friend, sister or mum and want to keep if for yourself!

We first met the lovely ladies at Bowerbird Bazaar (Adelaide's Design Market) in October, when they expressed interest in stocking some of ou rMookah products in their shop. Annie and Shell want to focus on super friendly customer service, and are aiming to create a place you want to come back to every week to see if there is something new, or just to say hello!

Pictured is Shell arranging some Mookah floor cushions in the store

Check out that beautiful throw cushion sitting on the chair (below). Wouldn't mind one of those myself.....

Apparently Saturday's are the best day to drop in to the store cos I've heard on the grapevine that this is the day the girls cook up some yummy treats to share with their customers!
If you're passing through Mildura stop by and check out the shop. Here are the details:

Fine & Sunny
Shop 7 141 Eighth Street, Mildura VIC
Ph 03 5022 0007

Need to do some Xmas Shopping this weekend?

2010-12-01T20:01:00.001+11:00

Do you need to knock a few more things off that xmas shopping list this weekend? Drop into St Kilda Town Hall from Thursday night through to Sunday afternoon to find a range of georgous designer wares.

Here is a peek of some of our wares that will be available......

Hope to see you there!

Attention: Adelaide Folk!

2010-11-26T21:58:00.000+11:00

Come one, come all! If you live in Adelaide, or just passing through, make sure you drop into Magnolia Square and pick up a few xmas pressies to cross off that list.

Tomorrow is the last day at Norwood Concert Hall, from 10am to 4pm.

Maker Handmade......

2010-11-20T17:54:00.002+11:00

Have you heard of Maker Handmade yet? It is a brand new shop that has just opened a week or so ago in Sth Melbourne, and they stock all kinds of handmade loveliness. On Thursday we visited the store and met the owner Rachel, when we dropped off some of our range that she is going to be stocking in her new shop.

These are just a few pics of the shop. I spotted items from some of my favourite designers/makers, including Delilah Devine, Yardage Design and Sisken.

By the time we'd left there was a little cluster of our quirky animals in the front window, smiling at the window shoppers passing by.

I think my favourite item in the whole shop had to be that lamp in the front window! Who wouldn't want one of those? The hardest part would be deciding which Melways Map I wanted on the light shade.....

If you're in the area, drop into the Maker Handmade store and say g'day to Rachel.

New 'Wings & Wheels' Fabric

2010-11-19T19:14:00.002+11:00

Here at Mookah Headquarters we are very excited about our latest fabric design that we picked up from the screenprinter's earlier this week. It's called 'Wings & Wheels' and we have had it printed on an organic cotton/hemp as well as a lovely quality denim.

So, can you guess what we've been up to this week?

Yep, you guessed it. Making our new fabric up into beanbags, throw cushions, floor cushions and pencil cases.

All these lovely goodies just in time for xmas presents for little ones.

You will be able to find all these items in our etsy shop in the next few days, or will be available first this Sunday at the Shirt & Skirt market at Abbotsford Convent. For the first time we will also be listing our fabric for sale in our etsy shop.

What's the verdict out there? Hope you all have a good weekend.

Sydney Wrap-up!

2010-11-17T20:12:00.000+11:00

Apparently Nicole & I made it home safely from our Sydney road trip on Monday, but to be honest it all just feels like a bit of a blur! Thanks to all those Sydneysiders who dropped in to Magnolia Square, it was certainly quite hectic at times.

Thought I'd share a few pics of the event with you, starting with some of our own goodies....

Quite a few of these items below never made it home to Inverloch. Still trying to decide if that is a good thing or not. Now we have to make more before we head to Adelaide next week.

As for these little Birdy Num Nums, they seem to be a hit wherever we take them.

This was a (very white) display set up by Mr Jason Grant at the entrance to the event.

And this photo of these beautiful drawers ( with bracelets) was taken purely for me, as I am going to buy one from the very lovely JJ from "Have you met Miss Jones".

What do you think? Likey likey lots?

Giddyup!

2010-11-12T07:03:00.000+11:00

Have a gander at the view I woke up to this morning.

Just a short canter for us across the road for the start of Magnolia Square this morning. Giddyup!

Just a peek...

2010-11-10T20:50:00.000+11:00

This is just a peek of what we will have on display at Magnolia Square in Randwick later this week.

Moose? Did you say Moose? Wasn't on the menu at the Gundagai RSL tonight, but this delectable dish definately will be come Friday at Randwick!

Oh, we know that she could melt the coldest of hearts.......

....... but unfortunately, due to previous interstate media enagagements, Lila will not be making an appearance at Randwick this week. However, the fuschia bellbird kids beanbag will be. If you're in the area we look forward to seeing you sometime between Friday and Sunday at Randwick Racecourse.

My Creative Space....

2010-11-04T20:09:00.001+11:00

I sense another roadtrip coming up.....

Here at Mookah Headquarters this week it has all been about preparation for our roadtrip to Sydney next week for Magnolia Square at Randwick Racecourse.

Preparations, mmm, well what that really means for anyone who doesn't know, is heads down bum up making lots and lots of stuff! Our quirky animal friends always make popular gifts for little ones for Christmas, and these Platypus were fresh off the sewing machine today. All they need now is a little stuffing to bring them to life.

God I love a good road trip! Perhaps another overnight stay in Gundagai? More op shopping in Goulburn? Brekky at Macca's? Stay tuned for the update.

For more creative spaces, head over here.

Love 'em or hate 'em.....

2010-10-25T21:16:00.000+11:00

Love 'em or hate 'em? You know how little kids can sometimes really give you the pips, with their whingeing and whining, public tantrums that make you feel like 'everyone' is looking at you, their questions of 'why?', and the frustration they create when they just refuse to do what you ask? Of course you do, chances are you're a mother. Well I'm not, but I am an aunt to a little man called Cooper.

A couple of fairly momentous occasions have taken place over the last week in the little man's life, and I have played a part in both, so I thought I might share them with you. Do I sound proud already?

Cooper will be 3 the week before xmas, and has been an incredibly bad sleeper from birth, despite the assistance of sleep school, sleep nannies etc, driving his parents to distraction. While overall a very healthy growing boy, he has been been bombarded with ailments, such as tonsilitis, throat infections, chest infections, and ear infections, which have not helped his sleeping patterns. Hence, he has never stayed a night away from both his Mum & Dad. Earlier this year however, a doctor confirmed his parents concerns that he also suffered from sleep apnoea, and straight away was booked in to have his tonsils and adenoids taken out.

In the couple of months since, Cooper has been transformed into a much calmer, happier, healthier, more pleasant little boy, who now also sleeps through the night most of the time. You can hear the *sigh* of relief from Mum and Dad from here can't you?

I too was excited, as it meant that my favourite little man could finally, maybe, come and stay a night with his Aunt Lulu. When I heard last week that a 3 day toilet training programme was going to take place, I took that as a green light for the overnight stay, before I had to worry about wet beds as well!

So last Tuesday night, with much apprehension (on my part - not his!) Cooper had his very first night away from both Mum and Dad. I don't know what I was worried about, he was excited about it, he was perfectly behaved, he went to bed when told, slept through the night, and jumped into bed to give me a cuddle at 6.30am the next morning. Ah, the joys of being an aunt! Those morning cuddles are pretty special.

The next hurdle was toliet training. This was attempted a while ago with no real planning and forethought and it was a disaster. This time a programme was adopted, all involved read the instructions of what to do and what not to do and a plan was in place. Today is day 3 and while he's not a complete success (there has been a few accidents), he has done SO well.

My little boy is a big boy now. He wears jocks not nappies. And he pee's and poo's in the toliet like his Dad does.

Ah, kids huh? Who would have thought I'd enjoy being an aunty so much? And if it wasn't for Mookah I wouldn't get to spend so much time with him and see him go from babe to little man before my eyes....

P.S. Special thanks to Curlypops for the tips on animation!

Customised Floor Cushion

2010-10-24T17:21:00.004+11:00

After Nicole caught up with the lovely Nic from Yardage Design at the Melbourne Finders Keepers market a few weeks ago, she asked us if we would make her up one of our large floor cushions for her, in her ocean blue 'exclaim' fabric. Turned out pretty yummy don't you think?

Apparently this one is going to live next to Nic's bookcase, perfect for perching oneself on while browing through a book collection. Mmmm, maybe I need one next to my bookcase?

I'd love to see it done in the red version of the fabric, pictured here. In case you didn't know I'm a bit partial to a touch of red....

Thanks Nic, hope you love it!

New Fabric Design....

2010-10-23T12:31:00.006+11:00

Don't you just love receiving parcels in the mail? Even when you know what's going to be inside them, it's the excitement of the whole process of unwrapping, from the outer packaging, to peeling back the layers, to the contents inside.

Speaking of which, looky looky at what arrived in the post yesterday! A new fabric called Bellbird that we are going to be working with from a Sydney based fabric designer, that we have had printed in a custom colour.

First project for this fabric will be panels for kids beanbags, which you will find in our etsy shop next week.

It's Saturday and I don't have a market this weekend, so that's enough about work! Have a great weekend.

My Creative Space.....

2010-09-30T18:45:00.011+10:00

It's been a little while, but at last I feel like I have worthy post for this week's My Creative Space!

So much time is easily taken up in the humdrum of running a small business that often there isn't a lot of time left to do what you really wanted to in the first place - be creative. For the last few months now there has been lots of thinking, sketching, designing and playing with an idea to come up with the latest product to be introduced to the Mookah range.

Oooh timber. Can you smell it's loveliness? Do you know what it is?

Now of course there has to be some lovely fabric added somewhere doesn't there?

Tada! The first finished prototype of our Mookah designed and handmade Floor Lamp. It stands 120cm tall, is made from Australian hardwood and you can choose your own fabric to create your very own designer lampshade. And even better, it will also be available as a Table Lamp, (not shown) which will stand 48cm tall.

Now, you're probably (maybe) thinking.....'gee those Mookah chicks are clever', but I have to admit that Mookah Man has played a large part of this new project. Thanks Mookah Man, you're the best.

Both the floor lamp and the table lamp will be on show for the very first time at The Finders Keepers market at Docklands in Melbourne on the 9th & 10th October, so make sure you drop in to check them out, and say g'day while you're there.

First ever Melbourne Finders Keepers Market!

2010-09-23T18:43:00.008+10:00

Have I mentioned that Mookah will be a part of the very exciting first ever Melbourne Finders Keepers market, to be held at Docklands on Sat 9th and Sun 10th October? Hehee....we're just a little excited about it.

Well to be honest I'm excited about it and a little jealous that I won't be there. Nicole's a little stressed and that's cos she will be there and she has to pull it all together! No I won't be lazing on some secluded tropical island sipping marguritas or trekking through Nepal getting in touch with my inner self. I will be in Adelaide pulling it all together for the 3 day Bowerbird Bazaar design market.

Yep, it's all happening here alright. You know how you hear about those production sweatshops in far away places? Well I think our studio is turning into one!

Note there is no smiling for sweatshop helpers!

A quick snap i took today of a range of kids beanbags we have prepared for the events, with Mum, who is a sometimes sweatshop helper. Hope to see you all there!

My Creative Space.....

2010-09-09T18:53:00.002+10:00

What boxes does a blog entry need to tick to be suitable for a Thursday 'My Creative Space' entry I wonder?

I can tell you now there has been absolutely nil, none, zip happening in the creativity department around here this week. We've all been brought to our knees by the deadly, dreaded gastro. Aaahhh!

This is however, a selection of photos we took last week.......

Floor cushion & Pod in 'Birch' fabric by Ink & Spindle

For more creative stuff, head on over here.

Red, green & BLUE!

2010-09-03T17:44:00.004+10:00

You asked for it, so here it is. Moose fabric in blue!

hand screenprinted organic cotton/hemp

See it for sale in our etsy shop real soon!

The little man goes to hospital.....

2010-08-29T18:41:00.005+10:00

Oh boy was last week a big one. After many months of ongoing sickness from colds, flus, throat infections, tonsilitis and ear infections, not to mention the sleep apnoeia, it was finally time for the little man to take a trip to that dreaded place to have his tonsils and adenoids removed.

As he'd never been to hospital he wasn't worried about it at all. In fact, he didn't even know what it was. Someone that was very worried however was his mum. Preparations included stocking up the fridge with lots of yummy soft foods such as yoghurt, custard, ice cream, and jelly, while Dad was gathering and collecting items to entertain and distract the boy once he came home. Apart from the latest Fireman Sam books and Fireman Sam dvd's, lots of cardboard boxes and craft paint were also required.

What were the cardboard boxes for I hear you ask. Well for building a 'Sam Truck' of course!

I'm actually not sure who enjoyed building this firetruck the most.

Dad gave it a lick of paint while the boy was playing at nan's house, and you can imagine the joy on his face when he came home to this.

You will have to stay tuned for the action photos and you will be pleased to hear that the boy is doing well. He is recovering remarkably quickly and I'm sure it won't be long til he's back to being a 4 weetbix boy for breakfast!

My Creative Space...... 'Feeling a little felty'

2010-08-19T18:08:00.007+10:00

Golly gosh I feel slack. It is quite a while since I joined in with Kirsty's My Creative Space. Here at Mookah Headquarters it has been all about felt and felty bits today. Special thanks to Mum for helping do all this circle work, these suckers are so time consuming!

All Nicole and I saw from our sewing machines today was felt, felt eyes and other felty appendages for Birdy Num Num's and Penguins.

Ahhhhh....no! Not more felt!

Actually it was probably quite a nice day to be working with felt as it was cold, wet and windy outside, while we were snuggled in the studio.

Apparently we need to order more felt, but oh which colours? There are so many beautiful colours to choose from!

Out with the old and in with the new........

2010-08-10T17:45:00.010+10:00

We are nearly 18 months into the world of mookah now and we decided that it was time to update our image, get a bit more professional and to try a little 'rebranding' to better reflect what we at mookah are all about. So it is out with the old and in with the new.

While we had some clear ideas about what we wanted, we needed to enlist some 'professionals' to help us achieve our goals. We sought the services of Martine from greenolive designs who is into all sorts of crafty stuff these days but was a graphic designer in her previous life.

Don't worry, I know what you're thinking.....'oh no, not the tree!'. It's okay, relax. The Mookah tree is still intact, just in a little more stylised version than before. Our new branding includes the Mookah Tree done in a linocut, with the template shown below.

The new image is all about red rather than the green, and all I can really say is that Nicole and I are both going through a red phase in our lives. Not so many years ago I would never have dreamt of wearing red! It's also all about natural colours, fibres and textures, and appreciating our environment.

Finally we also have ourselves some profesional swing tags to attach to our products for sale at a retail level. No more dodgy handmade labels.

Oh yes and how could I have not already mentioned the fact that we have launched our very own mookah website. Go and check it out right now!

A new natural herringbone tape label has replaced our old woven polyester labels, and boy do they look good. When we look at the old polyester ones now they make us 'shudder'.

So what do you think? Likey Likey Lots?

# Note: Special thanks to Martine & Drew for helping us to achieve everything we wanted and more. Now we just need to work on our own online shop.....

New 'Mookah Moose' Fabric........

2010-07-31T16:34:00.009+10:00

Since Mookah was created Nicole and I have had this hidden desire to screenprint our own fabric, although we never quite knew what, when, where or how. Like lots of things around here really. For months now we've been working on a few design ideas, as well as researching and sourcing basecloths, and finding someone to print them for us.

With so much going on we decided to just get one design printed for now just to get the ball rolling, so we went with our simplest design, the 'Mookah Moose'.

The Moose design was inspired by one of Nicole's trips to the US where she was staying with a friend at the Grand Teton National Park. They went to leave their room one morning only to find they were blocked in by a rather large Moose and it's cub!

Who knew there would be so many decisions to make along the way, with the 2 hardest ones being which basecloth we were going to use, and which colours to print. The original plan was to print in 3 colours, red, green and blue, but as we weren't able to get hold of enough of the basecloth we wanted when we needed it, we decided to just run with the red and green for now.

The fabric we chose in the end was an organic cotton/hemp, which is what we ideally always wanted, but it was oh so hard to find 'just the right one'.

I know one little man who thinks it's pretty funky and it matches in perfectly with his red and green bedroom.........

This fabric will be available in floor cushion and beanbag designs next week at Magnolia Square at Malvern Town Hall. Come and say g'day to the Mookah Chicks.

Beautiful, Handmade, Creative Gifts....

2010-07-29T18:06:00.010+10:00

I really wanted to call this blog "Over the hills and far away", but thought the title would then distract you from the stunning handmade goodies that you are about to see. I happen to be showing you these, as they were gifts that I received from friends and family last week for my 40th birthday. Over the hills yes, and far away from my 30th birthday. Do I feel older or look any different? No, according to mookah man who says i don't look a day over 39. He is such a kind man!!

The day begun with me rolling out of bed, whilst the rest of the family slept as the Mookah girls had the shirt and skirt market to get to at the Abbotsford Convent. We arrived there at 8am to find one of my dearest friends (who does not work at markets) waiting. She arrived with coffee and cake, what a friend!! Soon after her departure, Hoot and Tweet from Itchybird, who will be fellow stallholders with us at Magnolia Square at Malvern Town Hall next week arrived. They were on their way through to the Rose St market and thought they would bring me cake and a present. There was no cake, it was an empty packet of cake mix, Hoot ate it on the way! The present, was a stunning 'Tantrum in a Terrarium', from the 'Itchy Bird' Range. It has a miniature Mookah Mum and Mookah son, walking down a hill, or is that me dragging him along the grass, because he refuses to walk?????

"Tantrum in a Terrarium" by Itchybird

The next beautiful gift came from my parents. I had seen it on display at Gecko Studio Gallery a while ago and fell in love with it immediately. Not only is the working stunning but the title made me laugh. 'Goat in a Boat' by Elisabeth Scott.

The next beautiful piece I spied at the Maganolia Square event earlier this year in St Kilda.

It is made by a Melbourne based jewellry designer, Shabana Jacobsen . I was racing past her stand when I spotted it out of the corner of my eye. It was sold when I returned to buy it and decided it wasn't meant to be. How do you think I felt when I opened the gift from my Mookah Sister?

So, how spoilt was I? Very! How do I feel, besides not a day over 39? Blessed that I have such a wonderful network of friends and an amazing family who have given so much thought into the gifts they have given me for my birthday.

I just wish I had a photo of the amazing 4 layer vanilla cake with lime and ginger filling between each layer and covered with a marshmellow icing topped with four sparklers.......

Note: This post was done by my older sister and business partner, not me, who usually throws words onto the page. Just had to clarify things in case you thought I was 40, cos that would be disastrous!

Likey likey lots!

2010-07-25T15:45:00.010+10:00

What is it that I likey likey lots? Well lots of things, but today it is all about 'Apple & Sour Cream Slice'.

I got this recipe from Mum who made it for dessert a few weeks ago and it was absolutely stunning. When she said it was easy too, she had me. Today I whipped up one of my own just to make sure it was easy as well as good....

I'm pleased to be able to tell you it still tastes great, and yep, it's dead easy. While I love a good rich dessert, this is nice because it isn't too sweet or sickly, just a lovely balance of flavours. I had mine at room temperature with a dollop of cream. Yeah okay, maybe 2 dollops.

Let me know if you too likey likey lots.

Apple & Sour Cream Slice

Base

1 Green's Vanilla Cake Mix

1/2 cup coconut

125g butter

1 egg

Mix together and press into a lamington tin. Cook for 10 mins @ 180degrees.

Pour 450g of stewed apples over hot base.

Topping

200g sour cream

1 egg

1 tspn vanilla essence

Mix well and pour over apple. Sprinkle with castor sugar and cinnamon. Cook for 20 mins.

Less than 2 weeks to go......

2010-07-24T17:39:00.005+10:00

We're on the countdown. It is now less than 2 weeks until Magnolia Square. It will be our first time at the home of Magnolia Square, Malvern Town Hall. So we are quite excited, but.....

....there is so little time to finish everything! Hope to see you there, it will be a fabulous event. Did I mention that we are next to the cafe?

Colours of the rainbow....

2010-07-20T17:09:00.008+10:00

I know it appears as if I've been AWOL for a while, but trust me, I've been here. I've just been busy sewing, sewing, sewing. I thought i'd share some pics with you of a new parcel of craft fabrics that arrived here in the mail last week.

Hard to beat a new parcel of fabric, where they are all precisely folded and grouped together in their fabric ranges. If only they stayed neat like that in the studio.

These fabrics are destined to be made into echidnas, platypus, woollybutts, penguins, and birdy num nums from the Mookah animal soft toy range.

If you were wondering what some of my favourite fabrics were, you might be able to work it out by the first batch of animals that we've made out of the new fabrics!

Cutesy huh? These guys were frolicking in the sun at Kilcunda beach while working on their suntans.

Sunday Stuff.....

2010-07-04T17:30:00.008+10:00

The sound of the ocean was very loud when I woke this morning, and I lay there for quite a while listening and contemplating the day ahead. It's Sunday, I'm home, and I don't have to work. Mmmm. Feels a little weird. What am I going to do with myself?

I finally decided on 'normal stuff'. Or my interpretation of what used to be normal before it became non normal for me. You following me? It used to be my routine to catch up on my duties around the house, such as cleaning, shopping, lawn mowing etc on weekends, but now that I don't get many very normal weekends, I don't know what's normal anymore?

So that was it. I decided on normal stuff. Apart from the above very normal boring stuff I also did a bit of this......

Raking up the piles of leaves from that big old lovely oak tree that gives me beautiful shade in summer, and a bit of this.....

Yep you guessed it. Gutter cleaning. Did I just say that it was a lovely oak tree? Mmmm. The good with the bad huh? There was quite a nice view from up there though.

It was so nice to spend some time enjoying my surroundings and to have the time to notice the little things, like the fact that my wattle that I planted nearly 2 years ago is in flower for the very first time.

And that after all the rain we've had here there are little mushies and toadstools coming up everywehere in the garden. Look at these little beauties.

You know what I realised after today? I actually enjoyed all that normal, boring stuff that I used to do on weekends. What did you do today?

Skirts Ahoy!

2010-07-03T16:12:00.010+10:00

With all the crafty activities that have been going on pretty intensely around here for over a year now, I decided that it was time to actually make something for myself. I was inspired by a lovely looking denim skirt that I saw a lady wearing recently as well as a few hand screen printed fabric off cuts that I was given by Martine from Greenolive Design. And you know how I love hand screen printed fabric right?

Unlike Nicole, I've never particularly felt the urge to make my own clothing, (perhaps due to the failures I had at high school), that is, until now. So with Nicole looking over my shoulder and offering me tidbits of advice I embarked last week on making my own very first simple A-Line denim skirt. It went quite well and I was pleased with the end result, except for one small but important piece of information. It didn't fit! Bloody pattern sizes.

Here it is anyway, being modelled by it's brand new owner, my Mum. Cute shoes by the way.
So this meant I had to do it all over again in a larger size (I'm not telling which size though), and I actually made a couple of sizes bigger because I wanted to wear it low on my hips rather than at my waist (or pretend waist).

This one definately fits, and I'm not sure yet, but maybe it is a tad too big? Oh well, I know exactly how to do it now. What's another one huh?

Thanks again to Martine from Greenolive Design for a few of your hand screen printed fabric panels. Which ones will I use on the next skirt?

Guess who visited us today?

2010-06-28T19:32:00.006+10:00

This is just one of the reasons that we love living and working where we do.....all the native animals that pass by our studio window/door.

This little guy has been around a lot over the last month or so.....

And always during the day. He appears to perhaps be blind?

Not sure which way to turn. But oh so cute regardless!

Another day at Mookah HQ.

My Creative Space....

2010-06-24T18:28:00.005+10:00

There was oodles of stuff going on in the Mookah studio today. We had custom orders for adult beanbags and a floor cushion to get finished and in the post, we had a visitor or 3 to the studio, and we had a few extra pair of hands helping out.

Remember 'Lucky Phil' from last week? Well she was back for more creative therapy at the Mookah studio today and she bought a friend with her, Emily from Idaho USA. I love having assistants and they're cheap labour, all it takes is a few bottles of sparkling shiraz and they're as happy as a pig in shit!

I missed the photo opportunity, but we had a visit from Martine from greenolivedesign today, with Drew and Jack in tow, who dropped Martine off and headed to the beach. What a stunning winters day it was too!

Martine is known for her screen printed fabrics, scarves and tweed bags, but today's discussions revolved around colours, textures, themes, direction, design, logos and printing. I will show and tell more soon....

For more creative space, head over to Kirsty's place.

Pendant Lampshade & Renovation Update......

2010-06-22T18:25:00.007+10:00

Remember last week I showed you some snaps of some pendant lampshades that Mookah Man was making? Well they're now all finished and up in the new kitchen so I thought I'd give you a squizz.

They're not bad are they? I've already put in my order for my house. I want a couple of new lampshades for my bedroom, I've just got to decide which Australian designed and made fabric I'm going to use. We've got a few customers patiently waiting for their very own custom lamp shades that will match some home decor items we have already supplied them with.

While I'm here I will show you a few more pics from Nicole and Mookah Man's house renovations which have been happening over the last 6 months or so. This is their new dining area with their mustardy coloured feature wall to match the new splashback.

That mustardy colour was chosen to match the colour of the lichen seen on the branches of the gum trees surrounding the house.

The new 'out and up' north facing extension makes the whole living area look enormous with it's huge glass windows that stream with sunshine over these winter months.

Ah well, I'm sure my turn will come soon. Who would want to live in the city when you could live on 4 acres of this on country coastal bushland?

My Creative Space....

2010-06-17T18:07:00.009+10:00

It's Thursday. What was happening in our creative space I hear you ask. Well, a bit of this....

And a bit of that.....

Okay, okay. I know you have no idea what it all is! Yesterday we spent the day in Melbourne doing lots of business 'stuff', including dropping 'Lucky Phil' back at her abode in Mt Waverley. We picked up the red letters at a great place in Richmond called The Ugly Duckling which we have been driving past and eyeing off for a while now. They have some very interesting but quite expensive bits n pieces.

We dropped into a place called Plyco in Fairfield to check out some timber veneer samples for a new project at Mookah Headquarters. Do you love yummy timber as much as we do? When you grow up the daughters of a cabinet maker come woodwork teacher you learn to appreciate timber, trust me! The textures, colours and grains are amazing. What's the project? Well you'll have to wait and see.....

Mookah boy doing his usual....trains, trucks, rocks and sticks.

And finally, we completed the custom order we had for 3 x metre long cushions to form part of a day bed in a brand new designer house in Inverloch. We LOVE this hand screen printed fabric by Surface Art!

Good huh?

For more creative stuff, hop on over to Kirsty's place.

The Mookah Studio Space.....

2010-06-14T18:57:00.014+10:00

Have I bored you recently with how limited the Mookah studio is getting in terms of productive space? As our little label is getting busier and busier, we are having to stock and store more and more fabrics, cushion inserts, hobbyfill, packaging etc etc. While we have quite a large work bench (about 3.5m x 1.5m) Nicole and I often argue over who gets to use it.

Today however, it all just got a little out of control. Not only was Nicole and I trying to work in there with Cooper running around, but Mookah Man was in there on creative duties as well as an old friend who we shall refer to as 'Lucky Phil'.

Mookah Man has been busy working on some new pendant light shades to go over the kitchen island bench, to finish off the recent extension project. I'll give you a peek when they go up!

Lucky Phil on the other hand was not so lucky recently, requiring a knee reconstruction after a skiing injury and has come to stay at the Mookah Headquarters for a bit of rest and relaxation in the fresh country air. As it turns out, she is fantastic at felt circle work, pinning, cutting and I'll find out what else tomorrow!

I was on beanbag duties yet again today.....

Nicole got the most exciting job, a custom project out of one of our latest fabric finds. This fabric is called 'Blade' and is another australian hand screen printed fabric, from Surface Art.

Yummy isn't it?

The project is three very large cushion covers for a day bed in a brand new designer house here in Inverloch from one of our favourite builders, Martin Builders. While I'm here, congratulations to Dave and Jenny on the birth of their baby!

And the Mookah Studio? Well who knows, we'll just keep dreaming about our studio extension for now.

My Creative Space....

2010-06-10T17:22:00.011+10:00

Today's 'My Creative Space'.....

Last week I gave you a sneak peak of our latest but unfinished softie, a Fairy Penguin, and promised to show you the finished product. We quickly put 10 together to take with us to Magnolia Square in Sydney to get some feedback, and in our haste didn't get a chance to take photos before they were quickly sold off the shelves! They were all sold less than half way through the event.

Yay! Everyone seems to like them as much as we do, except perhaps for Kylie who described them as acid trippy dolls. What the *@#&??? By the way, we have named our new little friend Pia. Pia the Fairy Penguin

So today we have been working on another bigger batch as we have orders all over the place for them, not to mention the fact that we need to get some in our etsy shop and we have Mornington Market this weekend.

So what do you reckon? Likey Likey or Acid Trippy Dolls?

Hopefully you likey likey cos Pia is also up the duff, preggers, expecting, with child, carrying, or whatever other term you would like to use to describe the fact that mother is carrying child and will soon give birth to a little one. Yep, Pia will also be available with her little one real soon.

Head over here for more My Creative Space, hosted by Kirsty.

Trains, trains and more trains....

2010-06-09T18:45:00.006+10:00

You know what it's like when there is a little one in the family and they get their little phases or obsessions? Well in this neck of the woods it's been all about TRAINS for a while now.

Cooper do you want to go to the park? 'Train' says Cooper.

Are you hungry Cooper? 'Train' says Cooper.
Do you want to give Aunty Lulu a cuddle? 'Train' says Cooper.

So this is what happened at my place recently after a little family dinner at my new dining table.

Wooohoooh! Chugga Chugga Chugga Chuggintons! "Come on Nan Nan, the train can't leave the station while you're like that!"

Note the Bob hard hat and phone in Cooper's hand. This all took place while conversing with Bob the Builder and Wendy. He even insisted on us showing train tickets and he's not even 2.5 years old!

Good to see all those Ikea boxes come in handy for something.

Mookah girls road trip to Sydney.....

2010-06-07T19:34:00.019+10:00

Last Wednesday arvo us Mookah chickies headed off on a road trip to Sydney to exhibit for 3 days at Magnolia Square at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney. Now you may not know this, but I LOVE a good road trip, and have had many fun road trips with Colli over the years. She looks a little excited too doesn't she?

The plan was to get on the road and drive, drive, drive til we got tired. We were aiming for at least Albury, and pulled into McDonalds at Glenrowan for a quick food and coffee fix. While there we blinded Michelle from Crayon Chick with our headlights as we pulled out and she pulled in. It's a small world.

Finally our droopy eyelids got the better of us as we pulled into a motel at Gundagai, the home of the dog on the tuckerbox. Yep, that's right, we stopped at about 6.45am in the morning in the 2 degree temperatures to take this photo as proof to Teegs from Ink & Spindle that we were actually there.

Ah, you've gotta love watching the sun rise up over the hills and the spectacular display it creates as those first rays shine down on the foggy valleys.

It's not all fun, we did find some time to check and send some emails, do some research, oh and yeah, do some tweeting, cos that's important right?

What is it with those oversized animals in big country towns? Are they trying to make us feel sorry for them so that we stop? If so, then it worked.

We had never been into Goulburn but decided we would stop to get a coffee fix, stretch our legs and check out the local op shops since we were travelling so well. You know what I really liked about Goulburn? They had a special car park reserved just for us, a 'Reserved for Long Vehicles' space a perfect size for a car and trailer. Trust me, it's often not easy to find a car park when you've got a trailer tailing your ass.

See how happy that car space made me?

Someone really should have told me of the Goulburn dress code...I felt terribly out of place. Next time I'll make sure I wear my long flowing orange number too.

On the road again, Sydney bound. The traffic, signs, tunnels and rain all freaked us out a bit, but we got to Randwick Racecourse safe and sound and nice and early in the afternoon to set up. We spent hours creating an inviting display only to get wet from a leak in the roof on Friday, the first day of trading. The weather was atrocious, rain, hail and wind, not particularly conducive to shopping.

This is the spot on the back wall of the event that we had to relocate to in the downpour. It was crazy with customers, staff, and other retailers all grabbing our product and helping to move it to somewhere dry. Thanks to all those that helped, including Nic and Metka for helping us to find a reasonable solution to the problem!

While we felt a little 'out there on our own' in our new position, it allowed us to face down toward everyone else in the venue and check out what was going on.

Our new penguin softie was an absolute hit, selling out half way through the 2nd day. Note he isn't pictured? I'm saving it for another post, tomorrow!

Thanks Sydney for liking our stuff, we hope to see you again in November, at the same place on the 12th - 14th. We will have a few new items to introduce you to by then. A special thanks also to Sophie from Ellani Petite and Nat from A Skulk of Foxes for giving us a few very fun and memorable evenings!

Ah yes, the familiar coastline we call home....

4 Chicks & Rick......

2010-06-01T20:56:00.012+10:00

What a mad week it was last week. In between preparing for our last minute trip to Sydney and all the sewing we needed to do, we had a number of other commitments we needed to meet. Chiroparactor, hairdresser, meeting with our business mentor, swimming lessons for Cooper, playgroup, you know how it goes!. On top of all of that, we had a business lunch scheduled.

Lunch was scheduled for Thursday in Leongatha at Number 9 Dream Cafe which is owned by Rick, who just happens to be our newest Retail Stockist. You may recognise the young ladies we had lunch with.

Yes, it is the 'Chickainka's', otherwise known as Lara and Teegs from Ink and Spindle. This was the time we were supposed to meet.

They arrived 43 minutes late.....ah, the young these days!

Whilst wating for the girls, we had time to peruse some of the lovely Australian handmade wares. Do you recognise any?

Mattt's Bags, Ink and Spindle, Mookah and some stunning local ceramics.

Peekaboo! A shy Echidna in there.

The lovely Rick, caught behind the coffee machine.

So why lunch at Number 9 Dream Cafe? Well, Rick has just reopened after four weeks of renovations and his old friend Lara wanted to check out the reno's, Teegs hasn't been to Gippsland and the girls wanted to check out the Mookah Studio.

Thanks Ladies for finding the time and making the effort to do a Gippy road trip. We had a wonderful lunch and Cooper loved having two lovely ladies to give a tour of the house and vegie garden to! We hope you made lots of pumpkin goodies.

My Creative Space....

2010-05-28T07:57:00.007+10:00

Oopsy, I'm running a day late, but I wanted to join in with Kirsty's My Creative Space anyway, so please just pretend it's Thursday and read on.....

Much of the work here at Mookah Headquarters can be a little repetitive, but not today! We had an important lunch date planned (more of that in another post) that was bound to take up the rest of the afternoon, so we gave ourselves the morning some 'free' time to play with some new projects. Woohoo!

Above is a few of our older Birdy Num Num designs that are on the table for a revamp. A new face plate is being created, they are getting new 'super stretchy' legs, and some rainbow coloured head feathers. I promise to show you the finished design....as soon as it's finished.

And I bet you wonder what on earth 'that thing' on the bench is? No its not a skittle. Nicole got the real pleasure of playing with a completely new softie design that we've been wanting to work on for a while now, a Fairy Penguin. The one standing up is an unfinished prototype, and lying on the bench is the start of prototype 2. It's getting there folks, trust me. A little more tweaking and I'll be able to show you the finished result.

Creativity, ideas, new designs, yay! Off now to finish preparing for next week's road trip to Sydney for Magnolia Sqaure at Randwick Racecourse.

My Creative Space....

2010-05-20T19:33:00.010+10:00

After being absent for a while, today I am joining in once again with My Creative Space. Pop over to Kirsty's for other crafty goodness.

Today wasn't about marking, cutting, pinning, sewing, overlocking or ironing for me. Today was a different kind of creativity at Mookah Headquarters. It was all about taking photographs of some of our products for our etsy shop, web banners, magnolia sqare website and, well, whatever else! Here are just a few that tickled our fancy....

Oh he's so cute isn't he? I am, I admit a slightly biased aunty.

Awww! Gotta love those special moments huh?

Modish Market debut.....

2010-05-12T18:23:00.011+10:00

It's taken me a while to get around to this post, but I wanted to tell you about the very first ever Modish Creators Market that we were involved in last Saturday at the Malvern Town Hall. This new market has been in the planning stages for such a long time (just ask Kylie and Kelly), so it was really exciting for the event to actually happen.

The general idea for the creation of the event was to create a regular market in the eastern suburbs that was a quality handmade lifestyle market. Sounded perfect to us, so Mookah was on board in a flash! The weather was beautiful, car parking and access was a dream, and the event appeared extremely well organised on arrival so we were off to a good start for the day.

There was no real rush of patrons through the door at 9am, but rather a steady stream. Within half an hour of the event beginning we sold our brand new red elephant floor cushion that was on it's debut - woohoo! Guess who bought it? Chrissie Swan from The Circle, but I personally know her from the 'Dicko, Dave and Chrissy' radio show. She was a scream....

The quality of the stallholders at Modish Market was extremely high. It was like the who's who of some of Melbournes top markets and was great fun to meet some new stallholders and peruse their goodies. I was going to say that I restrained myself and didnt buy a thing, but I did make a small purchase......a Mother's Day card.

Look at these stunning cupcakes. Is it just me or does it seem like cupcakes are taking over the world at the moment? All stallholders received a FREE coffee and cupcake on the day, which was a bonus, except that I had to share mine with you know who.

I didn't get to take many photos of the event, but this display of lovely handmade bags is by Leanne from Fraulein Jageur, who was a bit shy on the day and didn't want her photo taken as she claimed to be having a bad hair day.

A quick snap up the aisle at the start of the market.....the Malvern Town Hall is such a lovely venue.

Overall wrap up from me. A great concept, fantastic venue with good car parking, excellent quality product, well organised and lots of potential, we just need to get the word out there. Well done to Kelly and Kylie on their first market.

Stitches and Craft.....

2010-05-06T19:06:00.005+10:00

Yesterday afternoon us Mookah sisters headed down to Caulfield in the pouring rain and hail to visit our first ever Stitches & Craft show. We didn't really have any expectations as our main reason for visiting was to support and say hi to some of our friends, suppliers, fellow bloggers and stallholders from other events.

It's always fun to catch up with Teegs and Lara from Ink & Spindle, they're such crazy cats, and their new Tamarillo collection looks fabo!

(Lara pictured above)

Carol & Mark from Itchybird are friends of ours so had to drop in for a chinwag, a catch up, get the goss and give some support. Sorry for the poor photo but Carol sells kits for making birds, peg dolls and fabric rings. And hey, that's me in the background!

We also had a special mission at Stitches & Craft that any of you who are fellow twitterer's would appreciate, and that was to confirm that the talented and very funny Hoppobumpo (aka Liesl) is in fact a green hippo. I can confirm that yes she indeed is, but she is pictured here below dressed up as a crafty godess wearing a shower cap in Pippijoe fabric. You go girl! Caitlyn didn't want to appear in this photo with Hoppobumpo.....I can't imagine why?

Others we saw but didn't capture on film were Michelle from Kids with Crayons, and Stacey from sheepsclothing who we haven't seen for like 15 years or more!

That's my compact and precise craft show wrap up for 2010. Oh, and if you're in Melbourne and you're not busy this Saturday come and check out the launch of Modish Market at Malvern Town Hall between 9am and 3pm. We'll be there with bells on!

Watch out for the elephants.......

2010-04-28T19:34:00.004+10:00

Here at Mookah headquarters we have been dying to turn this Hand Screen Printed elephant fabric into a floor cushion for like.....forever. And today, voila!

We weren't disappointed. It came up just as well as we thought it would. How could you not love the elephants?

If you really, really love it, you can find it here at the Mookah Etsy Shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mookah. Special thanks to Amy from Umbrella Prints and Carly from Nest Studio for producing this lovely organic cotton/hemp fabric.

A hop, skip and a FUNKY jump!

2010-04-19T19:41:00.005+10:00

While staying with some friends who just emigrated from the UK to Brisvegas last week, we took a short hop, skip and a funky jump to a fabric store we have been dying to visit for a long time. If you are in any way involved in the sewing/fabric world, you will know of it. Yep, that's right, Funky Fabrix.

The name says it all really. This little shop is jam packed full of bright, bold, modern, funky fabrics, just what we here at Mookah headquarters love.

This particular fabric really caught our eye, such beautiful shades of green.....

I'm still not sure how it happened, but believe it or not we walked out of there empty handed. Well worth a visit whether it is to the shop in Mitchelton or their online store.

Holidays.....The Macadamia Castle!

2010-04-11T19:12:00.017+10:00

We've been here in warm, sunny, balmy Queensland for a few days now, but today was to be all about little Cooper. So what did we do? We headed to The Macadamia Castle just a little south of Byron Bay of course!

My first impression was formed after seeing the beautiful green, lush, freshly mowed grass! Mmm, I love anyone who loves their grass and a nice, neat tidy yard. Yes I am still a little of a neat freak. But enough about me.

The highlight of the day for Cooper was definatley 'The Train'. He had 2 rides on the train, one with mum and one with dad and all we heard on the drive home was.....The Train!

That painted 'thing' on his face was supposed to be a fish, but being the wigglebutt that he is, he couldn't sit still long enough for it to be finished.

The highlight for me was definatley the bunnies. Did I get to sit and pat one? No. But despite the fact that I was too old and didn't get to feel that soft, warm litle body and those long ears, it was still the highlight for me. How old is too old anyway?

Nicole and Darrel just 'taking a moment'......

This place had the most amazing treehouse for kids to climb, with several slides zinging this way and that.

Oh yes, and another thing the boy is into at the moment. 'Dig, Dig', which describes just about any machinery that is big, with a bucket, scoop or grader on the front, but is usually spotted in a yellow form.

My Highland goaty, oaty, oat, was feeling finey, iney, ine, ate 6 red shirty, irty, irts........

Oh yeah, and there was a flying fox that I was dying to get my hands on, but the line of kidlets was ridiculous. Being the larger of the pack I suppose I could have pushed my way in, but you know.....I didn't. I'd love my own flying fox, from my balcony to the car. That way I could get a super quick getaway.

Oh and the park. Don't get me started on parks. I could give you a detailed description of every park within a 100 klm radius of Kirra......but I won't.

Cockle doodle do.....

And the highlight of the day for all adults concerned.....little angel face Cooper falling asleep on the way home from a big day out. Yay for us!

The Homegrown Update....

2010-04-05T19:29:00.008+10:00

It's only 2 more sleeps now until Mookah goes on holidays, so it was time today to prepare the vege garden for our absence. Isn't the size of the pumpkin plant in the foreground of this photo just incredible? It is only one plant, it's self sown and has about a dozen pumpkins hanging from it's long twisting arms.

A photo of some of the little suckers hiding behind the leaves....

This little helper is always keen for a visit to the vege patch and he can be quite helpful, but I think he really just loves trying to spray us with the hose!

Finally we pulled out the tomatoes even though there were a few stragglers left, and also gone are the zuchinni plants (yippee!!) after they have supplied us with way more fruit than we could have ever hoped (or wished) for! Lets face it, there is only so many things you can do with zuchinni's.

And this green machine is Mr Mookah's latest compost invention, which was put in place today, just in time to place the tomato and zuchinni plant remnants inside it's big, round, tumbling belly. It will be interesting to see what's in there when we return in 2 weeks time.

Now that we've cleared some beds, turned the soil, covered them in pea straw, and watered them in we need to think about some winter crops. Any thoughts?